Tire and method of manufacturing same.



N6. 708,954. Patented se t. s I9 .|.w. LunGETT. p D2' TIRE AND METHOD 0FMANUFACTURING SAME.

(Apphcahon tiled Jan 9, 1902 UNITED STATES "ATnNr OFFICE.

JOHN W. BLODGETT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO N. TIRE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TIRE AND `METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAIVI.

SPECIFICATIONformng part of Letters Patent No. 708,954, dated September9, 1902. Application filed January 9,1902. SerialNo. 89,000. (No model.)

To afZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. BLODGETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tires and Methods of Manufacturing Same, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to a new and useful pneumatic tire and a methodwhich may be employed in the manufacture of the same.

The tire embodying my invention is of the class the basis of which is atubular fabric knit from a single thread of a size and materialdepending upon the strength, weight, resilience, dac., which it isdesired to give to the completed tire and is concerned more especiallywith the novel construction employed to insert the valve-stem at thepoint where the ends of thetube constituting the tire are joined.

My invention is also concerned with a novel method of frictioning thetire-4'. e., forcing the rubber into and through the` fibers andinterstices of the fabric, so asto expel all air therefrom, irrespectiveof the kind of a fabric employed.

To illustrate my invention, I annex heretoV a sheet of drawings, inwhich the same referf ence characters are used to designate identicalparts in all the figures, of which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of aportion of the tubular fabric, showing how the ends may be telescopedand joined. Fig. 2 is a cross-section through the tire, showing thelayers of which it should be composed. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectionthrough the joint, showing how the ends are telescoped to forni thejoint; and Fig. 4 is a perspective View similar to Fig. l, but showingthe ends of the fabric brought together and joined without teleseopingthem and with the valve-stem inserted between the ends.

In carrying out my invention I place a vulcanized orpartially-vulcanized air-tube a on a cylindrical mandrel, and on theoutside of this tube I place a coating of raw-rubber cement, which isallowed to partially dry, after which a strip of raw rubber b is placedaround the cemented air-tube from end to end. The

fabric cis then placed on the raw-rubber surface of the air-tube in anyconvenient manner. If the knitted tubular fabric lis to be employed, itis conveniently knit in place by passing the mandrel through acircular-knitting machine, such as is shown in my application for apatent, Serial No. 81,193, led November 5, 1901. When the fabric hasbeen placed on the tire, the partially-completed tube is then removedfrom the mandrel in anyconvenient manner, and the ends of the air-tubeand of the fabric are joined in any customary manner. If the knittedfabric above described be employed, the ends of the fabric may bebrought just together and secured by passing a thread transverselythrough the loops constituting the ends of the fabric, as shown in Fig.4, or theymay besecured by telescoping one end of the fabric over theother end and sewing through the loops on the end of the outer layer andinto the loops constituting the adjacent portion of the inner layer, asshown in Fig. 1. In case the construction of Fig. 4 is employed thevalvefis inserted in the air-tube in position so that the ends of thefabric abut squarely against it, and the eud loops are Athen connectedaround it, so that the stem is inserted through the fabric Withouteither cutting the thread or stretching it unduly at any point. The tireas thus partially finished is then placed in a tire-mold, and it is theninflated to a high pressure With air or its equivalent, and the mold,With the tire in it, is put in an oven and heated to the proper degreeto soften the raw rubber sufficlently so that it will be forced by theinterior pressure into and through the fabric; but care must be takennot to heat it sufficiently to cure it. As the rubber lfills the fabricit at the same time forces the air that may be in the fabric or therubber out through the joints of the mold. When a fabricis filled Withrubber and frictioned in this manner, no air can remain in the fabric orthe rubber and spoil the final vulcanization. At the proper temperatureit must remain in the oven about twenty minutes to friction it. The tireis then removed from the 1nold,when it Will be found that the fabric isperfectly IOO saturated with the raw rubber, which has been forcedthrough it so as to form a smooth surface on the outside, upon which asmany layers of raw rubber e may be placed as may be necessary to givethe tire the desired thickness. The tire thus built up is thenvulcanized in any of the usual Ways.

By the process herein described it will be apparent that I cancompletely and perfectly friction any tire, and while this method can beemployed in connection with any kind of a fabric I preferablyemploy itin connection with a tubular-knit fabric of the kind described, as thisproduces a tire having the greatest resilience and durability.

While I have described my invention as carried out by the methods whichI at present consider best adapted for satisfactory results, it will beunderstood that it is capable of some modifications and that I do notdesire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claimsexcept as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

l. As a new article of manufacture, a pneu- ,matic tire having a tube ofknit fabric embedded therein and its ends brought together and securedby uniting the loops of the ends and having the valve-stem passingthrough the fabric between the ends; substantially as described.

2. In the art of making pneumatic tires, the process which consists ofplacing the tube of fabric over a tube of raw rubber; in joining theends of the rubber -tube and the ends of the fabric tube; in inatingsaid tube in a tire-mold; in heating said mold sufficiently to softenthe raw rubber so that the interior pressure will force it through thefabric thereby frictioning it; in placing a layer of raw rubber over thetube thus formed, and in subsequently vulcanizing the tire thus formed;substantially as described.

3. In the art of making pneumatic tires, the process which consists ofplacing a layer of raw rubber over an inner air-tube in placing the tubeof knit fabric over the raw-rubber tube thus formed; in joining the endsof the rubber tube and the ends of the fabric tube; in inflating saidtube in a tire-mold; in heating said mold sufficiently to soften the rawrubber so that the interior pressure will force it through the fabricthereby frictioning it; in placing a layer of raw rubber over the tubethus formed; and in subsequently vulcanizing the complete tire;substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. BLODGETT.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. McELRoY, IIATTIE O. I-IALvoRsoN.

